


The Most Wonderful Time

by alexcyprin (Megatraven)



Series: Silver and Gold [20]
Category: Labyrinths of Astoria (Visual Novel)
Genre: Cheek Kisses, Crushes, Forehead Kisses, Mistletoe, Other, Platonic Kissing, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Winter Holiday Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28289685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megatraven/pseuds/alexcyprin
Summary: H.E.R.A's annual winter holiday celebration comes around in the form of a party for all of its workers- and it's MC's first time attending, having joined the organization this past year. What are the chances, then, that she winds up under the mistletoe with her best friend and boss, Alex Cyprin, without even trying to do it? Hint: the chances are very high.
Relationships: Alex Cyprin & Main Character, Alex Cyprin/Main Character
Series: Silver and Gold [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572766
Kudos: 2





	The Most Wonderful Time

**Author's Note:**

> It wasn't a request really, but an anon on tumblr said, "H.E.R.A's festive holiday party and it's MC's first one since she was hired and she's caught under mistletoe with Alex!!" and I couldn't not fic it-

She doesn’t even notice, when the people around her start to grow silent. That’s not _too_ unusual when the boss is near, right?

Of course, she doesn’t really have any qualms about Alex- _Cyprin_ , she corrects herself- being at the H.E.R.A.-hosted winter holiday party. They’re her oldest friend, even if they’re also her boss now, and so conversation between them flows easily. (Maybe too easily, but she’s still figuring out the professional boundaries. Sue her.)

She rarely has any time to catch up with them- outside of work or otherwise. So of course she wants to take the opportunity to do it now. And she has been, walking around the office with them with hardly any interruption. They smile easily, and laugh at whatever jokes she tells, and sometimes their elbow knocks into hers.

It’s amazing.

They’re still saying something when she realizes she’s gotten a little distracted by her enamorment, and she tunes back in.

“...and she actually admitted to me, that she hadn’t had any interest in it until I was born. Because, you know. My aura. Reindeers. She thought it was too good to pass up.”

“Oh, gods,” she laughs. “Are there any pictures of you in those little antler headbands?”

She expects them to laugh, too, but their silence says more, and she holds out her arm to stop them, turning to look at them with surprise.

“Are there really-?”

“No!” they say, too quickly, putting their hands up in defense. There’s a light brush of pink coloring their cheeks, and they’re looking anywhere but at her. “Forget I said anything!”

And she would, for them- if they weren’t smiling so good-naturedly.

 _That’s_ when the quiet starts.

“Oh, I’ll let you drop it for now, boss,” she says, and it’s a teasing thing. “But I won’t forget it, you can believe that.”

They sigh and shake their head, exasperated, though fondness shines through it all.

“I know you won’t.” They wrap her on the head lightly with their knuckles. “You’ve got a steel trap, there.”

With a snort, she’s about to say something more when she hears May’s gasp from nearby, and she finally notices that not only have the coworkers around her gone silent save for some whispers- they’re also watching both her and Cyprin.

“What- May?” she asks, turning to her favorite person in the department. Excluding Cyprin, of course. 

May takes a moment to recover from whatever it is that’s shocked her and everyone else, before she smiles wide.

“Look up!” she shouts, and points to something over hers and Cyprin’s heads.

When she does, she freezes in place at the tiny bit of mistletoe hanging above them, a furious blush already working its way over her cheeks and up to her ears. She knows the tradition, and what it means- but the prospect of fulfilling it- _with Cyprin?_ It’s almost too much for her heart to handle. Her crush never really had gone away, after all.

“I- no, that’s- we can’t-” she tries to say something, to back out of it, stumbling over her words before she just sort of flounders, looking to Cyprin for help.

To her surprise, they seem almost as flustered as she is, a blush that rivals her own on their face. 

Thanks the gods, though, for their cool head and quick recovery. They seem to gather themself up, and the blush fades from them while hers is still going strong, and they step forward.

“Agent Chan, please. That would be very inappropriate,” they say, with a smile that begs for anyone to argue.

No one does, though May does giggle a bit, and Cyprin looks out at all of the other workers.

“Back to the festivities?” They cock their head to the side a bit, smirking when some of their underlings jump and whirl away, dragging their friends with them to save themselves any further embarrassment at having been caught staring and called out for it.

When the party resumes, Cyprin makes their way back over, taking care, this time, to avoid the mistletoe overhead.

“Are you alright?” they ask, and she can see true concern bleed into their gaze.

It settles something in her, and she can breathe easier. Her blush starts to lighten up, though it doesn’t go away completely.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thank you.”

“Of course. Now, where were we?”

“...antler pictures?”

“ _No!”_

They say it so quick- and a little too loud that it startles people nearby- that she can’t help but burst into laughter.

Conversation between them resumes easily after that, as if it had never stopped at all, and it carries late into the night, even past the departure of most other workers.

They’re two of the last people to head out that night, both staying and offering to clean up.

By the time they’ve finished, no one else is in the office. They stand proudly, overlooking the efforts of their teamwork. The office was near-spotless, all of the trash and drink spills cleaned up, all food given away and cleared out.

“Good work,” Cyprin starts, pulling her attention back to them, “Now there’s jsut one last thing we need to get rid of.”

“Oh- what’s that?”

They hold up a finger, motioning for her to wait a moment. They reach up, and she follows their movements, watching as they pluck the mistletoe from above their heads once more.

“Wow, twice in one night, who’d have thought?” she jokes, that faint blush coming back.

Cyprin holds it out between them, mischief sparkling in their eyes, now that it’s just the two of them.

“Who’d have thought indeed,” they say, and-

Were they always standing so close?

Before she can think anymore of it, they place a quick, gentle kiss on the crown of her head. They step away just as quick, tossing the mistletoe in the trash. They’re blushing, too, she can tell, and it takes a second for her to recover from that sudden and brief contact.

Still flustered, though, Cyprin saves her from saying the embarrassing ‘thank you’ that had been on the tip of her tongue.

“Come on, it’s late. Let’s get out of here. I’ll even walk you to the subway, if you want.”

So, they get on their winter coats, and she follows them into the elevator, and the quiet that stretches between them isn’t uncomfortable so much as it is tense with things unsaid, things that _can’t_ be said.

They each give a quiet goodbye to the night shift security guard before stepping out into the cold, snow drifting down on lazy winds.

The walk to the subway is filled with small pieces of conversation, the two of them mostly just enjoying the time to be together. They walk so close that their hands brush from time to time, and they thank the cold for being able to do so.

It’s not long, though, before they arrive.

Cyprin gives her one of those smiles that she can’t help thinking is just for her, and it’s the easiest thing to return it with her own.

“Thank you for coming with me, you really didn’t have to.”

“Of course I did. You stayed late to help me clean up when you didn’t have to, this is the least I could do in return.”

Overhead, she hears the announcement that the train is about to leave. She starts to turn away, but looks back to Cyprin. 

Their hand is raised to wave goodbye to her, but there’s something in the way that they look at her that makes her turn around fully and take their face in her hands.

Like their own, it’s gentle and quick- a kiss on the cheek.

She pulls back and hurries to board before the doors close.

“Wait-” they call out after her.

Breathless, and a little giddy, she calls back to them:

“It happened twice!”

And the door closes between them. She waves at them through the window, and they wave back, still stunned, and-

It might have been her imagination, but as the train started to move away, she thought their hand had moved over to where she’d kissed them.

But then, they’re out of sight, and she knows that she can’t bring _that_ up ever again. It wasn’t professional at all, but- they were her friend, first. Her _best_ friend.

She tucks the memory into her heart, the only place for such a precious thing, and finds herself smiling a private smile. Brushing the hair that’d come loose from her bun out of her face- and letting her fingers linger over where they’d kissed her- she sighs, content.

“Good night, Alex,” she murmurs, so quiet that only the wind might have heard her, if she’d been outside.

As it is, the words are for her alone, and for now?

That’s just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Comments and Kudos appreciated!
> 
> If you'd like to request something, or just talk about lovestruck in general, you can send an ask to my sideblog @official-alex-cyprin or my main @megatraven on tumblr! Any requests I receive for characters I haven't met/played through yet will be saved in my inbox until I have met/played them!


End file.
